Things in the capital city were changing. Much of that change lay hidden in the hearts and minds of the people, including the country’s very own Crown Prince.

Lee Yeong was not entirely sure of the exact moment that he had fallen for Sam-nom, but he knew in his heart that it was long before he even knew of her real gender. His eunuch was in fact a woman, as he had discovered long ago with that ‘mysterious’ tribute dancer. There was an itch buried within his skin to know her story, her real name, and just why she was risking her life to be a man, but these questions would have to remain buried. He had already kissed her. Surely that was enough trouble for now.

Byung-yeon too was besotted with the face of a woman. Kang Hye-ri mocked his every step. As each day passing allowed the tension of the Baekwoonhwe group to grow, he wondered about his promise to death. Even after kissing her in the rain, he wondered if he could keep any pledges that he had made. I just need time, he had said. But how much of it was left?

Hye-ri was prepared to be wed in several days. Her betrothed was happily smitten with the match, but she was to wait until that fateful day where they stood across a table of offerings to gaze upon her fate. They would take hands and promise to be true to one another, a lie that would be spilled over the fresh fruit like invisible grains of soot.

There were other secrets that had been floating around, past the intimate lives of the trio, that the wind had caught and carried. Lee Yeong had snatched onto its whispery tail first, calling Byung-yeon into his private chambers for a more personal discussion.

The two stared at one another in the dimly lit room, the soju between them no more comforting than the guards prepared with swords outside.

“There is a rumour that Hong Gyeong Nae’s daughter is alive. Have you heard?”

Byung-yeon stiffened slightly enough to go unnoticed. Hong was the main reason why he kept his secret from the Prince. Hong was the man he worshipped, the one whose ideas he wanted to spread like grain over the fields of Joseon. It was the only secret he could never tell his closest friend. “No,” he lied. “I have not.”

“With one word from Premier Kim, my father’s anxiety has worsened.” Byung-yeon understood what that would mean for the country. Complete chaos. He might have suggested bringing Hye-ri back for another dance, as it had calmed the King greatly, but he was startled by something else. A white mask placed on the table by his friend. His mask. The mask of Baekwoonhwe. “This mask is the same as what I saw at my father’s feast. Do you remember?”

Byung-yeon struggled not to look away. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“You need to look into it.” The command was more fierce than the crackle of fire. “Who are the men that wear these masks? Are they looking for Hong Gyeong Nae’s daughter? If so, what is their reason?”

To defend the country.

To provide for a greater future.

To see if Hong, the man behind it all, was truly dead.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Byung-yeon’s words dried with each syllable.

“If it is true, we must find them before Premier Kim does.” The soju pressed to his lips did not do enough to calm his nerves. “I understand there is much on your mind, as well as my own.” Both men could not seem to tear their eyes from the mask. It was as if its white surface was glue for one's attention. “However, the future of our country is at stake if my father does not get better.”

Byung-yeon gently pressed the mask back across the table. “You have my word. I will look into the situation.”

Lee Yeong nodded, convinced by the lies. “And you must do it quickly, before it is too late.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Byung-yeon knew that if he did not follow his duty, he had an incredibly high risk of getting caught. He had also not intended to return to the village so quickly after the rainy confession he had left there only one night before, but it seemed there was no path that led otherwise.

The first step he was forced to take was to the old home of Hong Gyeong Nae. Of course, he was unsurprised that it was still empty, as he had been there many times before. The old neighbor lady was willing to speak, however, likely bored from doing laundry all day without any gossip to hang along with it.

“At first I thought the woman living there was a widow, particularly because she was living alone with her daughter.” The woman’s words came out like water from a fall, but Byung-yeon kept his ears tuned. “But every once in a while, I could hear their arguing. A man would often come and leave rice in front of the door. I thought he was the father, but it turned out to be Hong Gyeong Nae.” She whispered closely to Byung-yeon’s chest, fearful of any noblemen patrolling the streets.

Byung-yeon’s brows furrowed. "Have you heard anything since the riot?”

“The royal guards searched the nation in order to find them. They would not have let them live.”

Byung-yeon’s imagination begain to whirl. Coincidentally, he could not stop his line of thought from rushing straight into to that strange eunuch - his unwelcome roommate. “Do you remember anything else about the girl?”

“I do not. She was just a baby, but she had big, round eyes. She was certainly beautiful.”

“What was her name?”

The woman’s hands fell to her wrinkled face. Byung-yeon could not recall a time he had ever spent with a grandmother, nor the time such a gentle hand had pulled him into a familial hug to tell him that all would be well. “Ra... something.” Her mind struggled to grasp onto the past, but it got there in quick enough time. “Ra On!”

“Ra on,” Byung-yeon repeatedly suspiciously. “Hong Ra On.” He may have asked further had it not been for the closing of a front door. Byung-yeon glanced to the clothing line where elegant suits of silk hung to be kissed by the sun. “I fear I am intruding on a rather important day.”

The grandmother waved her hand. “It is nothing. My grandson has come from out of town to prepare for marriage.”

Byung-yeon shifted his eyes to the woman. “That is worthy of congratulations.” Even the single word of matrimony made his stomach flip. Anything about Hong Ra On was lost in his subconscious, his new focus on a familial matter that did not concern him. “Your grandson is getting married to a local woman.”

“A farmer’s daughter.” She smiled softly. “There was trepidation within me when I first heard, as many have said that women of the field can be somewhat rough, but this one is also a dancer. I am certain she will provide him with many sons.”

Byung-yeon’s back straightened two inches taller. There was no possible way they were not speaking of Kang Hye-ri. “If she is a dancer, your grandson should consider himself lucky.”

“He has told me that she is very beautiful, although I shamed him for looking before the offering ceremony.” She smiled to herself as if in a daydream of her own marriage night. “They will soon visit the shrine for childbearing together, praying for a son to bless our family.”

Byung-yeon took an unconscious step back, clearly offending the woman. “I apologize,” he stuttered. The image of Hye-ri at the alter was too much, but the wedding bed was a thought that surpassed the edges of the Earth. He wanted to leave it there where it could never be reached. “I must be going, but I am very grateful for your help.”

“Sir!” The quick raise in her tone stopped Byung-yeon in his tracks. “Is it too much to ask why you have come with these questions? Should the citizens be worried about their safety?”

Byung-yeon could not make eye contact with her. Instead, he turned his back as he often did to the rest of the world. “There is no need to be any less safe than usual. Stay inside at night and lock your doors.” His heart twisted with his secret. “That is what we must all do.”

~.~.~.~.~.~

Hye-ri felt strange the next morning. She could not exactly recall a time in the past few months where she had felt completely normal, but this was something altogether unfamiliar. Her wedding was only days off, her body no more ready for the matrimony than her heart. And yet, there was work to be done. She was to meet a tailor in town to fix the silk of her mother’s dress, the same one she would wear as she kneeled beside the stone of childbearing. She would pray under her breath to escape, when her new in-laws believed she would be asking the ancestors for a son.

Her thin arms were overflowing with shades of red, blue and yellow. She thought they clashed too much with the brownness of her skin. She was a nut where the world wanted white rice. Her imagination might have run away with insults directed towards herself, had it not been for a strange sight up ahead.

“I knew it,” she muttered hotly. “I knew something was going to happen today.”

At the merchant stall for jewelry stood Lee Yeong, dressed in his typical scholarly robes. The newest sight was a woman next to him, a daughter from an elite family, judging by her elegant daffodil hanbok. It was impossible not to ignore love in the woman’s eyes, which planted their target solely on Lee Yeong. If Hye-ri wasn’t so nosy, she might have blushed and looked away.

Lee Yeong’s attention was elsewhere. In the alley just nearby Hye-ri, a commotion was going on. It was unusual to hear such chaos in the middle of the day, when the sun was at its highest, as most travesties occured in the village at night. Curious as to what it could be, Hye-ri followed his sight.

Her dress slipped from her fingers, although not because of its material. “Byung-yeon,” his name fell over the edge of her lips. The guard was being chased by several men, albeit this time not wearing his mask. Realizing that Lee Yeong had already seen his friend, Hye-ri was unsure of how to stop it.

“Lee Yeong.” Hye-ri rushed to his side, ignoring the wide-eyed gaze of his new companion. “Tell me that you just saw the same as me.”

“Who is this?” The girl’s voice was higher than the flight of a bird. “How dare you speak in such a manner to-”

Lee Yeong’s fingers wrapped themselves around Hye-ri’s wrist, both of them ignoring the wedding dress laying in the dust. The shock on both the merchant and young woman’s face was too great for a brief explanation.

“He told me he was at the training grounds," the Prince muttered. "Why would he lie?”

Hye-ri’s heart pounded as Byung-yeon ducked out of sight. The men were still following him, no doubt croonies of Premier Kim. “I fear that is irrelevant right now.”

The two of them made their way cautiously behind the small huts, unaware that the woman had followed them. It was not long to walk until they came across an unexpected scene. Byung-yeon was single-handedly taking on seven or eight rebel soldiers, barely out of breath yet.

Without a second thought, Hye-ri began to unwrap the skirt of her hanbok. The other girl reached out, her hand blocking Hye-ri’s path. “What are you doing?” She snatched her body away from the stranger.

“What are you doing?” The girl hissed. “It is inappropriate for a lady to get involved and even more inappropriate to do so in her undergarments.”

Hye-ri snorted, continuing to untie the front of her dress. “Well, it’s a good thing that I am not a lady.”

Lee Yeong was next to stop her. “She’s right, Hye-ri. Don’t get involved.”

All of their thoughts were cut off as Byung-yeon tumbled backwards, nearly knocking over the Prince’s legs like pins. Hye-ri quickly caught him beneath the arms, hauling him up to his feet. There was shame etched all over his cheeks as their yellow hue flashed pink.

“You’re in big trouble,” she whispered threateningly.

“And now that you have followed me, so are you.”

There was rarely a time Hye-ri saw the Crown Prince as angry as he was then. His eyes narrowed with concern and confusion towards the only friend he believed he kept. Why was Byung-yeon here? Why did he lie to the Prince? Who exactly was he to make so many enemies within the city?

No more time allotted itself, as five more men circled in on them. The foursome was now surrounded by attackers, three of them left without a weapon. Byung-yeon took notice more swiftly, his reflexes sharper than a fox when in the heat of battle. Without explanation, he tossed two fallen swords towards the Prince and Hye-ri. As for the other woman, he was unsure of just what to do.

“Stay behind me,” Hye-ri ordered the girl.

“You know how to fight?”

Her black braid swung with a shake of her head. “Not outside of a practice field, but what choice do I have?” Hye-ri’s sword came up fast enough to block an incoming attack, but she could feel another at her backside. “Lee Yeong! Take your strange friend and get her out of here!”

Lee Yeong spun the woman into him, sacrificing himself as a human shield. Hye-ri knew it was not the time, but she could not help but stare at the scene. Lee Yeong had never been so close to a woman before except for when he drew the steps of a dance. Was she someone that he cared for, or was she perhaps just getting in the way? Hye-ri suspected the latter. 

“Get out of your fantasy,” Byung-yeon ordered as he blocked an attack nearby. “Get out of here.”

Hye-ri’s sword swung into an incoming gut. His attention had been focussed on the men, the odds very high that he had not even noticed the presence of a woman with a sword. After all, it was not to be expected.

“I’m not leaving you," she snapped.

“I’m telling you to!” Byung-yeon’s shout was desperate as he hurled her behind him. She and the other woman were now both being blockaded by the royal household, their defense down and their exits trapped by the unforgiving point of ten swords.

“Who are they?” Lee Yeong asked calmly, meeting the stares of the men surrounding him.

Byung-yeon buried the question into the mud. “I will jump into them on the count of three. Please run away.”

That was never going to work. They all knew the truth. Lee Yeong would jump as far as his friend, their bond too strong to be separated. His trust in Byung-yeon was stronger than his faith in the ancestors, making Hye-ri recognise that her new duty was to protect the girl.

As the two men charged back into the crowd, Hye-ri glanced sideways to note that the woman was no longer there. Frantically, she searched the crowd but found no daffodil dress in need of saving. It was the sensation of fingers around her ankle that made Hye-ri notice her new position on the ground, curled up in fear of being killed.

Hye-ri leaned down swiftly, taking the girl in her arms. “What is your name?”

“Ha-Yeon,” the girl stuttered.

“I’m going to get you out of here, but you have to trust me. Can you stand?”

The girl nodded. She had gone from suspicion to complete obedience in five minutes flat. Hye-ri helped the girl stand on her shaking knees, her thin frame echoing the fear up to her chattering teeth. They moved swiftly under and over swords until they reached the nearest back alley. Luckily the men were not interested in harming the daughter of an elite member of society. In a way, Ha-yeon was saving Hye-ri’s life as a human barrier.

“What’s happening?” Her faint breath caught in .

“That doesn’t concern you. You must speak of this to noone. Understood?” The girl nodded like a child in fear of being scolded. Her body crumpled to the floor, her head buried in her hands, as if that would provide some form of escape. 

Silence came from far off, meaning that the fight had either ended with victory or an escape. Hye-ri could spot Lee Yeong coming towards them, his eyes only fixated on his withering flower. “Are you alright?”

Uncomfortably, the girl took his hands in his. Hye-ri’s sword fell to the ground in shock, never before seeing such an intimate display of skinship so visibly in the village, let alone with the Crown Prince. Was this the same girl who had shouted at her for even speaking to Lee Yeong?

“I am... relieved to see that you are unharmed.”

Hye-ri glanced down at the small cut on the surface of her palm. She was unsure of when she had received it, but clearly the girl had a line of vision that could not be tampered with.  

Lee Yeong said nothing, for there was not much to be told. He himself could not place an explanation on the scene. In the dirt beside them lay the same white mask that had taunted the strength of the royal family. Hye-ri’s stomach fell into the dirt upon his discovery, almost certain that he would discover the truth about Byung-yeon. Just up ahead, she could spot his dark figure entering the alley. With a widening of her eyes, she warned him. Do not come near. Byung-yeon quickly caught onto her invisible words, as his mask lay resting in the hands of his dearest friend. If he took another step further, he would lose everything.

“Take it as evidence,” Hye-ri muttered. “Take it back to the palace. We must find Byung-yeon.”

Lee Yeong nodded distractedly. “He should be back in the center by now.” Hye-ri was not convinced by his tone that he had not already put the pieces of the puzzle together. Was the image finally clear?

“Where shall I go?” The girl’s eyes brimmed over with tears.

“You have to go back to the palace,” Hye-ri commanded. “We cannot accompany you. You must brush off your skirt and walk with pride, as if you have seen nothing.”

Lee Yeong raised a brow. “Most women are not like you, Kang Hye-ri.”

Hye-ri swung her braid over her shoulder. “Perhaps they should be.”

Lee Yeong stared at her attire, his eyes closing in defeat. “Hye-ri, you cannot walk through town in your undergarments. What were you thinking?” His memory trickled away from the mask in his fingers. “Did you not have a dress when we met?”

She nodded too small to notice. “It was my wedding dress, but I left it in the market.” She opted to leave out the fact that it was in the dirt. 

“You’re getting married.” Ha-yeon's expression of shock was more a statement than a question.

Hye-ri’s eyes narrowed into slits. “As if you’re not attempting at a matrimony yourself with the Crown-”

Lee Yeong’s smile was unfitting for the situation, but it could not be helped. Like an owner with a dog, his hand clamped over Hye-ri’s lips. “That’s enough, pup. Let’s go find your clothes.” He looked at Ha-yeon, his fingers still acting as a muzzle for his friend. “Hye-ri is right. You need to go back alone. I fear that I cannot accompany you this time.”

Hye-ri tried not to snicker. He had not been accompanying her in the first place; she had merely followed him. However, no other explanation was needed. She would do as he said, and so the girl dashed off behind the straw rooves and out of sight. It took a moment for Lee Yeong’s hand to fall, but when he did so, no words came.

“You won’t ask him.”

Lee Yeong nodded. Hye-ri had always been one to see straight through him. “If he wanted to tell me, he would have. I believe that he has kept his secrets for a reason. The answers will come in due time.”

Hye-ri smiled sadly. It was a friendship like no other. “I cannot go with you.”

His eyes regained their focus. “Why not?”

She glanced away, the words stinging more than her battle scar. “I am to be married in three days. If I am seen around the town with two men, unaccompanied-”

“I understand,” he whispered. “And I am sorry for it.”

They had never spoken properly about her situation. Now was not the time, but she believed that Lee Yeong already knew of the complications. Perhaps Byung-yeon’s feelings for Hye-ri had been known by the Prince long before their owner. But allowing the two to marry would mean the loss of his best friend and personal guard, and Hye-ri did not blame him for that selfish desire. She too wanted Byung-yeon by her side, but knew that Lee Yeong was far more deserving. She only wondered which path Byung-yeon wished to walk down.

“Lee Yeong.” Her voice trailed after him. “I only have one thing to ask of you.”

He smirked. “And what's that?”

With an equally matched grin, she gestured to her legs. “Do you mind bringing me my dress?”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Hye-ri’s father did not notice any stains or tears from where Hye-ri had left her dress in the dust. After leaving Lee Yeong in the alley, Hye-ri had it perfectly pressed and cleaned like a proper wife-to-be. She was still awaiting Byung-yeon’s answer, his plan for her to escape the clutches of motherhood, but no word came. She lost track of the hours of sleep that passed without a greeting, and the following evening found her in the same position.

“Two more days,” her father called from the dining area. “You must be anxious.”

Hye-ri did not reply. That was evidence enough for her nerves.

“You will make a beautiful bride.” This time it was her sister, but with less convincing words than a shaman with memory loss.

Hye-ri continued to beat the skirt of her wedding dress into a perfect fold. It’s red color was fading, but they could not afford anything new. The memory of her mother was enough to deem it acceptable, although she wondered what her husband would think. It pained her to realize that she even cared.

“My heart is broken,” Hye-ri allowed. She knew the others would hear it, but could no longer restrain the rope that was pressing against the seams of her heart. “How am I to be a good wife and mother when I am not there in my mind?”

Her father and sister exchanged worried glances, thankful that she could not see them from the bedroom. There was nothing to be said. Kang Hye-ri had to marry for the sake of their livelihoods and for her reputation. If she reached her next birthday without a husband and child at her side, they feared no business would come. It was not good to be a dancer for the ancestors when you did not please them yourself. 

“I would rather dance on my bloodied feet for three days straight then marry a man that I cannot promise myself to.” Her eyes felt sharp with tears, but she was too tired to allow their release. “It is not because I do not believe that I am unable to love him. Perhaps I could, but there is no way of knowing for sure.” Her wrists pinched wit the the tightness of their task. She rubbed at the hollow space between her bones, hoping to provide some comfort. “He will see through my lies.”

Her father spoke up loudly. “Perhaps he has lies of his own, and you can find solace in sharing your truths with one another.”

Their thoughts were all interrupted by a fierce beating on the back door. Hye-ri stood up immediately, still jittery from yesterday’s fight.

“Who could that be?” Her father asked, pulling the door open with a slide. None of them were expecting the figure that greeted them. “Byung-yeon?”

Byung-yeon’s chest was rising and falling. He had clearly run quickly from somewhere with a secret destined to fall, the strap of his black robes tumbling loosely at his waist. 

“Hong Sam-nom.” It was all he said.

Hye-ri took a step closer to the edge of the door. “Hong… Sam-nom?” She exchanged confused glances with her family. “Why are you mentioning the eunuch at this time of night? Has something happened to him?”

“Hong Sam-nom…” he repeated, his eyelids fluttering to a shut. Something more was growing. A seed of danger was planted as of yesterday, and Hye-ri felt trapped in its ever-growing roots.

What did the eunuch have anything to do with Byung-yeon’s chase?

With a final sigh, the guard managed to reach his conclusion. “She is the person I have been searching for.”